| Rural Program (RP): 1981- 1989 |
Concept and Objectives The Rural
Program aimed to provide training in agriculture, farm
management, appropriate technology and primary health
care to local farmers, village volunteers and PDA staff.
The operational objectives of the RP were as follows:
- Enable PDA staff to train, cooperate and monitor
the project activities efficiently;
- Improve the standard of living of the target
group through training;
- Encourage the target farmers to pass on acquired
knowledge to their neighbourhood;
- Provide farmers with the opportunity for
participation, decision making and problems
solving.
- Establish development structures at both village
and sub-district level; Village Development
Committee (VDC) and Tambol Development
Association (TDA) and
- Encourage farmers to be self-reliant.
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| Small and Medium Sized
Entrepreneurs Training Project (SME): 1989- 1994 |
Concept and Objectives The SME
project aimed to strengthen the networks of the villages
agricultural and home industry programs using PDA’s
expertise in income generating activities gained from the
KAF rural program. Village-based enterprises and relevant
supporting services were be promoted to stimulate demand
for local products.
To fulfill the above objectives, the project
implemented the following measures:
- Entrepreneurs Training. Trained the potential
entrepreneurs in business development and
managerial skills.
- Marketing Research and Rural Industry Feasibility
Analysis. Conducted feasibility study for
promising products. Also co-ordinated with
related agencies to acquire information.
- Technical and Advisory Services. Facilitated
production, marketing, finance, law and general
management.
- Partnership Promotion. Introduced existing
members to potential business associates such as
financial institutions, buyers and suppliers.
Contacting strategies included workshops,
seminars and general co-ordination services.
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| Women’s Participation and
Environmental Awareness Project: (1995-1997) |
The Women’s Participation and Environmental
Awareness Project (WPE) was initiated in 1995 with the
goal of sustainable development through the integration
of skill enhancement and training in the following areas:
- Increased employment and income generation;
- Women’s participation in the development
process; and
- Environmental awareness and development
The objectives of the project were:
- to increase environmental awareness through
increased women’s participation in the
community development process;
- to strengthen the existing income generating
activities in communities; and
- to provide human resource development
opportunities for PDA staff to increase their
skills concerning environmental and gender issues
through international and local training and
observational tours.
Modifications made in 1996.
Monitoring their work with WPE, the project staff
noted the limited effectiveness of its training in small
enterprise development due to poor marketing
opportunities for participants’ products, most of
which were handicrafts. Moreover, the staff became more
aware of the need to better prepare villagers for
employment in the commercial sector, noting a lack of
opportunities for them to build skills relevant to
manufacturing and service jobs. These observations
prompted the staff to re-examine the overall training
components of the WPE and propose some modifications. For
the second half of 1996 and 1997, PDA proposed to
strengthen the human resource development component of
this project with training to address:
- retail shop management for shop owners and
workers;
- skill enhancement for participants seeking
employment in the manufacturing and service
sectors in their home districts;
- leadership development for women village heads
and assistants; and
- business skills development for farmers and
service-oriented workers.
The project still maintained its environmental
awareness activities under the supervision of project
staff, and seeked financial support from government and
business sources for expanded village environmental
conservation activities.
New Activities in 1997
In 1997 study tours were conducted for private
companies and strategic government enterprises interested
in community development as a way of exchanging ideas, as
well as to encourage various groups of people to
participate and assist in community development.
Implementation Areas
This project were conducted around nine of PDA’s
ten CBIRD (Community Based Integrated Rural Development)
centers in Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Wiang Pa Pao, Ban
Phai, Maha Sarakham, Nang Rong, Phutthaisong, Surin and
Chakkarat, which was the additional center of the project
for 1997.
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| Community Participation and
Income Generation Project (CPI): 1998 onwards |
The Community Participation and Income Generation
Project (CPI) is a new project of PDA to be implemented
in 1998. It represents a new approach to the overall goal
of PDA, which is to improve the quality of life of
Thailand’s rural poor. The new concept focus
mainly on three aspects:
- Promoting Participation
The rural poor are not
yet aware of their rights and opportunities for
democracy mandated to them by the new
Constitution. PDA wants to promote the concept of
‘community participation’ as a means
for the underprivileged to achieve a voice in
politics and to express their needs.
- Income generation
The first step to reaching
full participation in democratic processes is to
help the villagers to become economically
independent. The benefits of real democratic
elections have to be promoted. In the past,
villagers have been influenced by the vote-buying
tactics of some politicians. It is hoped that
with new opportunities for income, villagers will
become both economically and politically
independent.
- Using Proven Methodologies
To reach out to
communities, schools, and local administration
organisations, PDA will use successfully tested
methodologies such as participatory rural
appraisal (PRA) for collection of information and
‘Appreciation - Influence - Control’
(AIC) for group discussion and village planning.
PDA has set the following project objectives:
- To encourage active representative participation
in local development planning at the village and
sub-district (Tambon) level.
- To increase income generation opportunities for
people.
- To promote women’s participation and
management in community development at the
village and sub-district level.
- To increase environmental awareness.
- To encourage democracy promotion activities in
communities, TAO (Tambon Administration
Organizations) and schools.
- To improve the capacity of PDA staff to implement
this type of project, meet its objectives, and
work towards its ultimate goal.
Implementation Areas:
This project will be conducted around eight of
PDA’s CBIRD (Community Based Integrated Rural
Development) centres in Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Wiang Pa
Pao, Ban Phai, Maha Sarakham, Nang Rong, Phutthaisong and
Surin.
Activities to promote democracy:
- Democracy Camp for students
- Study Tours for Women Groups and TAOs
- Strengthen TAOs through using AIC Techniques
- School Democracy Fund
- Using a Mobile Democracy Van equipped with TV,
video and teaching materials.
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